Pages

14/05/2017

Libre OS USB : Your Portable System [TechPhylum Exclusive Review]

Hi guys, welcome to the 17th segment of"Introduction with Linux Distro". Well, Libre OS USB is a new entry in Linux World, Patrick Fox, the man behind this amazing distro united with TechPhylum team to test this amazing OSHave you ever thought of carrying your system, carrying the whole world which is right on your PC or carrying all the important data you need anytime along with you? Well, if yes then this segment is simply meant for you. Today, our guest is Libre OS USB. This distribution will fulfill your portable OS dreams. Let's get to know more about this distro.

About Libre OS USB -Libre OS is yet to get released Globally for Public. But as Libre USB OS developer found us perfect for testing it, we got our early hands on this OS. We did our best in hunting down some of the minor to major issues what a normal user will face in daily usage. We got our hands on the Libre OS 4.0 and now with full bug and performance fixes, here is our review of Libre OS 5.0.For now, this OS is arranging Crowd Funding to keep the development up and generate a good community around it.

Introduction & Background - Libre OS USB is originated in France. Libre OS USB was born in 2012 when Mr. Patrick Fox, the developer behind this distro first made a Xubuntu-based live OS key for a local computer vendor. Soon it received praise and Mr. Fox decided to make the Libre OS series. This OS is meant to boot on any machine and it supports both legacy and UEFI bootloaders. While the OS is new to rest of the world, there are some interesting features about this distro.

Whole OS in one USB -Unlike another distro which takes space on your hard drive, Libre OS USB completely takes its space in the USB. A standard 16 GB USB is enough to carry this OS and all your important files around. It works as a live OS. All you need to do is make a USB key of Libre OS USB and just plug it in any PC and tweak your bootloader, you will get access to this wonderful OS. This can be anything, your portable office, a portable studio, a data rescue OS, an everyday OS, etc.

Click to enlarge

Making USB key and Booting - Like many other distro, it is very simple to make USB key of Libre OS USB. Once you get an image file of this distro, you can simply us dd method to make USB key from any Linux distro. Alternatively, if you are using windows then you can use Rufus and select dd image option while making a USB key. Once you are done making a USB key, just plug it in any pc and boot from USB. you will be greeted with a beautiful boot screen of Libre OS USB.

Look and Feel - Libre OS USB is currently using latest MATE desktop environment for their testing versions. This makes the OS quite lightweight and can be used on older hardware. The icons and themes are beautiful.

There is also an option for tweaking themes and downloading more from online sources which make it quite customizable. You can simply choose just light or dark flavor, otherwise you can also customize it further to suit your style.

Well, there is also a beautiful boot screen animation and a good looking lock screen. So when it comes to looks, Libre OS USB is absolutely not a bad choice.

Click to Enlarge

Base and Performance - Libre OS USB uses Ubuntu as it's base. Being based on Ubuntu give an advantage of utilizing Ubuntu repositories from software and updates. The current testing version of Libre OS USB is based on Ubuntu 17.04 with all the latest updates available till date. When it comes to performance, Libre OS USB won't disappoint you at all. If you used a USB 3.0, then it will run very smoothly without any lags or freezes. The transitions work smooth and it is very stable as per our use till now.

Encryption -This feature is very interesting in this OS. unlike any other live medium, Libre OS USB offers an encrypted storage withing your USB key. So basically whatever work you have done in this distro is saved in that encrypted storage. Many live mediums don't offer this feature which is a plus point for this OS.

Software and Applications - By default Libre OS USB is bundled with loads of applications and software which are useful in day to day life. It have LibreOffice for office works, it have studio apps like audacity and more, it has many games for entertainment.

Furthermore, if you want particular software you can simply use software center or Synaptic package manager to install it manually. You will surely get what you are looking for without many hassles.

Click to Enlarge

Uses -Libre OS USB can be used anywhere. You can use it as your portable office. You can use it as a portable studio. If you travel a lot and want to keep less baggage with you then Libre OS USB can be very helpful in carrying the system along as it can be accessed from any PC. We used this for rescuing some important data from our secondary machine. You can just use it as your private space because once you removed the USB key from PC, no one can see what you done. You can even use it as an everyday OS.

The man behind Libre OS USB - Patrick Fox is a programmer and Linux enthusiast who developed Libre OS back in 2012 and sold many copies in France, as soon as his customers started to appreciate the usability and handiness, he started to develop it more and more. And now here in 2017, he has come to a more stable and a complete ruckus to fight against all the top leading Distros. He is the One Man Army for his appreciable work.We are quite impressed with the OS and more impressed by the thing that without any community lying underneath for the testing and bug-hunting.

Philosophy and Goals -The developer behind Libre OS simply wants this OS to be released on a larger scale and on an international level. He wants to unite Linux enthusiasts and make a community around Libre OS USB. This OS is made to simplify people's needs and provide them a strong medium which they can access anywhere. While doing all this it also keeps your data encrypted and secure with stable and smooth performance.

Support and Contribute - If you want to contribute to this project feel free to make desired donations at Kickstarter.com. Furthermore, you can visit the official website of Libre OS USB for more information.Kindly Share the post and Kickstarter link as much as possible.We really need some good Distro like this in Linux World.

Libre OS USB is not yet released to the public as it needs crowd-funding to be released on a larger scale and keep it maintained. Once released Libre OS USB will be completely free for everyone and will release a new version on every Long Term Support version of Ubuntu. Furthermore, intermediate versions on every Ubuntu release will also be made available to the public.